Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Cove Farm is a national historic district that includes a living farm museum operated by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, and located at Oxon Hill, Prince George's County, Maryland. It is part of

National Capital Parks-East National Capital Parks-East (NACE) is an administrative grouping of multiple National Park Service sites east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and in the state of Maryland. These sites include:Those not noted as official units are ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2003. The park provides an excellent resource for environmental studies, wildlife observing, fishing, and other recreational activities made possible by easy access to the Potomac River. Fourteen buildings and two structures are located in the historic district and associated with the property's sequential development as a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, an institutional agricultural complex, and a farm museum.

Oxon Hill Farm

The Oxon Hill Farm includes the Mount Welby home, Farm Museum, barns, a stable, feed building, livestock buildings and a visitor activity barn. Farm animals include cows, horses and chickens. Visitors can view the animals up close daily and learn about the workings of a farm. The Farm Museum building displays historical farm equipment dating from the late 19th century. The district also includes a hexagonal frame outbuilding; c. 1830 brick root cellar; c. 1973 frame hog house; c. 1890 frame horse and pony barn; c. 1991 frame chicken house; c. 1970 steel-frame implement shed; c. 1980 frame visitor barn; c. 1970 steel-frame windmill; c. 1940 frame hay barn; c. 1890 frame feed building; c. 1830 brick stable; c. 1970 frame tool shed; c. 1980 frame "sorghum sirip" shed; and a c. 1980 frame dairy barn, and c. 1940 tile silo. From the 1890s to 1950s, under the ownership of

St. Elizabeth's Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health. It opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federally oper ...

, the site was used as a therapeutic treatment center for the mentally ill known as Godding Croft. The Oxon Cove Farm historic district is located on the crest of a ridge overlooking the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

, north of

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

and very close to

National Harbor National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront deve ...

Mount Welby

The principal dwelling, known as "Mount Welby," is a c. 1807-1811 two-story three-bay brick structure laid in

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by siz ...

with

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

detailing and sheltered by a shed roof, and visible to motorists crossing the interstate

Woodrow Wilson Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, ...

. The house was built by Irish immigrant Dr. Samuel DeButts. It was entrusted to the National Park Service in 1959 in order to protect its resources from increased development.Oxon Cove Park: History & Culture
/ref> From 1891 to 1950, the property was used as a therapeutic farm by St. Elizabeths Hospital, and was known as Godding Croft. The house is operated as a historic house museum, with exhibits about period life in the early 19th century for the owners and slaves on the plantation. Other exhibits focus on the home's role at Godding Croft.

Gallery

File:OXHI fall walk.jpg, NPS Official "Oxon Hill Farm / Oxon Cove Park Fall View," November 2008 File:Mt Welby and Root Cellar Oxon Hill Manor Dec 10.JPG, Mt. Welby and Root Cellar, December 2010 File:Mt Welby Oxon Hill Farm Dec 10.JPG, Mt. Welby, December 2010

References

External links

National Park Service, National Capital Parks - East, Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm website
* , including photo in 1988, at Maryland Historical Trust website
M-NCPPC Inventory of Historic Sites (Prince George's County); Mount Welby, entry 76A-013, p. 118

The Historical Marker Database, Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxon Cove Park And Oxon Hill Farm Parks in Prince George's County, Maryland Farm museums in Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Museums in Prince George's County, Maryland Protected areas established in 1959 Italianate architecture in Maryland National Park Service areas in Maryland National Capital Parks-East Houses in Prince George's County, Maryland 1959 establishments in Maryland Houses completed in 1811 National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Oxon Hill, Maryland Southeast (Washington, D.C.)

Oxon Hill Farm

Mount Welby

Gallery

See also

References

External links